(Luke 7:36-50)
36Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[d] and the other fifty.42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
48Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Almost a month ago now, I sat in a conference room in the the Georgia World Conference Center in Atlanta. I was there for the National Youth Worker’s Convention, and was, at the moment, in a workshop on how to cultivate a faith in high school students that will last them through college. It was a great seminar, really well done, and thoroughly prepared. But to be honest, I didn’t remember a whole lot of what the presenter said (which is definitely why I took notes). There was one thing, though, that I didn’t have to take any scrupulous notes one in order to remember.
We were talking about the idea of what the Gospel really is when you boil it down. Our instructor turned it into a list of “4 G’s” – the Gospel is Good, Guilt, Grace, Gratitude. It goes like this: God made us in His image, and He delights in us (Good); Our sin drives us away from Him, for He is holy (Guilt); God, through Jesus Christ, forgives us of our sin, restores us, and the Holy Spirit enables us to live the way we were created to live (Grace); Our lives then become about living to thank God through everything we do – not necessarily trying to manage our sin per se (Gratitude).
It was that last point that really hit home. We live to thank Him. We serve out of gratitude. And that’s the beauty of service to God. It’s not something you can do because you feel obligated; you’ll eventually get weary of that. It’s not something you can do out of fear; perfect love casts out all fear. Just as John wrote, we love because he first loved us. It’s that simple.
See, the very reason why this “sinful woman” (who is indeed each one of us) could anoint Jesus’ feet with her tears and some perfume was because she new the forgiveness she had through Him. The fact is, the reality of God’s forgiveness sets us free to love Him – and nothing else in the world can do that.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(“It Is Well With My Soul”, Horatio G. Spafford)
